Colombian ex-soldier pleads guilty in plot to kill Haitian president

FILE PHOTO: A person holds a photo of late Haitian President Jovenel Moise, who was shot dead earlier this month, during his funeral at his family home in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, July 23, 2021. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo

(Reuters) - A retired Colombian army officer pleaded guilty in a U.S. court on Thursday to conspiring and supporting a plot to kill Haitian President Jovenel Moise, shot dead in his bedroom two years ago, a brazen assassination that created a destabilizing power vacuum.

According to the signed U.S. court document, German Rivera, known as Colonel Mike, was part of the convoy which headed towards Moise's hillside Port-au-Prince residence on July 7, 2021, days after he relayed information that the plan was not to kidnap Moise but instead to kill him.